Traction-engine



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

1.1/1. SMELSER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

110. 455,889. Patented July 14,1891;

(No Model.) 2 Sheets sheet 2.

J. M-QSMELSER.

TRACTION ENGINE.

No. 455,889. Patented Julyv 14, 1891 ZfiifineJJeA v [22 2/6 21 7 02*:

NITED STATES PATENT ()FFIQE.

JAMES M. SMELSER, OF RICHMONQINDIANA.

TRACTION-ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 455,889, dated July 14, 1891.

Application filed March 4, 1891. Serial'No. 383,804. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES M. SMELSER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Richmond, in the county of Vayne and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traction-Engines; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

Myinvention relates to that class of engines known as traction-engines.

The object of my invention is to provide means to enable the bearings which support the rear end of the boiler and its attachments to have an oscillating movement vertically.

My invention consists in the devices herein described and claimed, by which an oscillating motion is allowed in the supporting-frame of a traction-engine.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the cross-silldriving-wheels and groundwheels and their connections on one side of the engine. Figs. 3 and 6 are rear elevations of the cross-frame supporting the rear end of theboiler and its attachments, driving-Wheels, and the shaft 011 which they are mounted, the bearings of the shaft, the sprocket wheel which operates the shaft, and the cross-sillon which the spring is mounted which supports the boiler. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a rear end eleva tion showing the driving-shaft, sprocketwheel, driving-wheels, and ground-wheels, the cross-sill and its supports, also the hoopframe which secures the front portion of the boiler to the carriage. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the oscillating frame and the headblockon which it is permitted an oscillating motion vertically and the shaft on which it is supported.

In the drawings, A represents the cylindrical portion of the boiler of a traction-engine, and A the rear end and fire-box.

B B represent the ground-wheels, and O O are spur gear-wheels, smallerin diameter than the ground-wheels, to the arms of which they are rigidly attached,havinga common center.

An intermediate spur-wheel D meshes into and operates the spurgear-wheels O 0, being centrally between them, their centers being in a horizontal plane. The intermediate wheel D is rigidly attached to a horizontal shaft or axle E, the journal of which has its bearing in a vertical standard H, which forms the end of the frame which supportsthe cross sill J. T e standard H is provided with lugs or projections on its inner surface to support the upper and lower'barsct a a a of a truss frame, which frame is supported at either end by the hub of the ground-wheel. The center of the truss-frame is attached to a headblock 72., and has screw-bolts m m connecting the upper and lower bars a a on each side of the head-block. The head-block n sits on a sleeve d, which projects from standard H, and is the supportof the oscillating trussframe a. a a a. The standard H is shouldered at right angles at each end and receives and sustains the cross-sill J, to which it is secured by a screw-bolt .at its upper end, while its lower end is similarly attached to the horizontal bar N, which extends parallel with the cross-sill J, and is secured to it at the opposite end by'a vertical standard H in the same manner as above described.

A series of vertical standards H H H H connect the cross-sill J and the cross-bar N at intervals, altof them serving as journalbearings for the axle-shaft- E, which carries a sprocket-wheel K, which is placed thereon at a point parallel with the fellow sprocket- Wlieel in the driving-shaft of the engine, as shown by the open-link chain G, Fig. 1, which propels the axle-shaft E, carrying the Wheel D, which in turn gives motion to the spur gear-wheels C O and the ground-wheels B B, making the whole locomotive.

A supporting-spring Q is placed under the boiler and on the top surface of the cross-sill J, which sustains the weight of the boiler and its attachments. The upper surface of the cross-sill J is beveled, so as to form a rib in the longitudinal center, and the under side of the spring Q is recessed on its under surface to receive it. The screw-bolts tittt,

which secure the flanges of the vertical standards H H H to the cross-sill J, are inserted near the thinner edges of the sill J, and their heads are below the plane of the rib.

A curved bar L extends over the boiler in front of the fire-box connected on each side of the boiler to a barrel-spring M by a ring Z,

while the lower end of the barrel-spring is connected by a similar ring to the upper part of a hoop-frame L by a ring Z. The legs of the hoop at their lower ends are secured to the front end of the truss-frame (L a a a. This arrangement by means of the barrel-spring permits a slight elevation of the front end of the boiler, which is restrained by the barrelspring.

Braces t' z', jointed to lugs e e at t" i, extend forward from the rear end of the fire-box, and

drawings, Figs. 3 and 4, as being on both sides of the ground-wheels; but in practice they may be attached to the outside or inside of the ground-Wheels, as desired, or they may be attached to both sides, as shown. Sleeves d (Z d d are affixed to the standards H H H H, which support the head-block n, and with it the truss-frame CL Ct at a.

Having thus fully described my said improvement, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a traction-engine having two pairs of ground-wheels, the cross-sill J, standards H H H H, provided with sleeves d d d d, the frame a a a a, and head-block n, constructed and operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the sill J, standards H H H H, and head-block n, the shaft E, carryingsprocket-wheel K, the wheels 0 O and D, and ground-wheels B B B B, as and for the purpose herein set forth and described. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES M. SMELSER.

\Vitne'sses:

W. T. DENNIS, I. O. DoAN. 

